Quadcopter Woes

Chandler and I decided to take the quadcopter out to test the image quality. In direct sunlight, it leaves some to be desired. I’ll hold out for the GoPro 4 and upgrade at that time.

Things started going horribly wrong shortly before 2:42, when I panic and press a stick the wrong way. This sends the quadcopter under the bridge and out of signal range. The quadcopter’s return-to-home feature initiates at this point. I was able to cancel it but it started again at 3:08 as I was running across the bridge. See me pop into frame at the end of the bridge at 3:16 and out at 3:23 as I frantically tried to locate, but I was too far out to see or hear it (1600 feet out). Amazing luck that either it caught signal or otherwise decided to suddenly strafe right and catch on the one single wire that could have prevented it from falling to its impending death.

Chandler expressed that he was afraid of heights as we started climbing the maintenance ladder to the upper catwalk. By this time I had written off the chance of recovery, but I had to know what happened to it. Imagine my surprise when Chandler yelled back to me, notifying it was up ahead upside down on the lower catwalk. We grabbed it, snapped a few pictures and I climbed single-handedly back. Kudos to chandler for overcoming his fears and helping locate the bastard. She’s damaged along with my pride, but some new propellors had her back flying in no time.